THE rational condemnation by Israeli authorities of the most recent attack on a mosque in the occupied West Bank must now be followed up with quick and incisive action to bring the perpetrators to justice. After five attacks on West Bank mosques in the past 18 months, words alone will not be enough to convince Palestinian or the rest of the world that Israel is dedicated to its expressed policy of ensuring freedom of religion. The attack, which involved entering the mosque through broken windows, setting a tire aflame inside the mosque and daubing slogans in Hebrew on the structure's walls, is a clear sign of the untenability of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. The slogans on the walls indicated that the mosque attack was in retribution for the dismantlement of a structure in a nearby settlement outpost. In most cases, the Israeli government has condemned such “outposts” as illegal. Extremist settlers see such outposts as foundations for building future settlements. The entire incident smacks of extremism on the part of those who are unlikely to accept any agreement that may potentially be forged between the two sides of the Palestinian issue. The settlers who commit such acts are, by no means, choosing to settle on occupied Palestinian land because it offers spacious living conditions, fresh air, or, even, the potential for farming fertile land. Their intentions are based in ideological extremism, the same type of which has scuttled past efforts for peace in the region. Indeed, there is no reason to attack a house of worship from another religion other than pure provocation. It is an attack on the most deeply held beliefs of a people and serves only to hurt and incite. There have been no trials or arrests of anyone involved in the previous mosque attacks, putting the lie to whatever reasonable sounding words may emanate from Israeli authorities. With Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak speaking out strongly against the most recent attack, the time to judge Israel's seriousness in the matter has certainly come. __
